Kimlyn J. Bender, Ph.D.

Dr. Kimlyn J. Bender joined the faculty of Truett Seminary in 2012 after serving for over a decade on the theology faculty of the University of Sioux Falls. He received his Ph.D. in theology from Princeton Theological Seminary. His primary area of research is in 19th and 20th century theology with a particular specialty in the theology of Karl Barth, though his publications extend to include work in ethics and philosophy in addition to historical and systematic theology.

He is the author of Confessing Christ for Church and World: Studies in Modern Theology (IVP, 2014), Karl Barth’s Christological Ecclesiology (Ashgate, 2005; reissued in paperback by Cascade, 2013), and is the co-editor of Theology as Conversation: The Significance of Dialogue in Historical and Contemporary Theology (Eerdmans, 2009). His work has been published in numerous journals and collections, including Scottish Journal of Theology, International Journal of Systematic Theology, Theology Today, Zeitschrift für dialektische Theologie, Soundings, Sophia, Perspectives in Religious Studies, and Journal of Religion and Society. He serves as a Contributing Editor for Cultural Encounters, has served as the Theology Editor of Perspectives in Religious Studies, and is a member of the American Academy of Religion, the Karl Barth Society of North America, and the National Association of Baptist Professors of Religion. Dr. Bender is the recipient of numerous awards, including the David Allan Hubbard Award from Fuller Theological Seminary, the Outstanding Faculty Award from the University of Sioux Falls, and the Elie Wiesel Prize in Ethics (First Prize).

An ordained Baptist minister raised on the prairie of North Dakota, he has preached in many churches and has served in ministries in the Dakotas, California, and New Jersey, and most recently as the Senior Pastor of Oak Hills Baptist Church in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. He and his wife Trudy have three children.